


Run Away (Like A Prodigal)

by DefaltManifesto



Category: inFAMOUS (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bromance, Drunken Shenanigans, Fluff, Gen, Male Friendship, New Marais, Parkour, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 12:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2651867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefaltManifesto/pseuds/DefaltManifesto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"But New Marais can kill you."</p><p>Cole stayed silent for a moment, watching their wheels eat up the pavement. "Why do you say that?"</p><p>"The lawlessness. It gives you power. It can be addicting," she said. "But you always end up losing yourself in it. I take people down here who say they'll come back and they just get lost down there instead."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run Away (Like A Prodigal)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pennatus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pennatus/gifts).



> Written for Pennatus cuz she's amazing. Also, the Zeke & Cole friendship is hella great and one of my favorite things ever soooo yeah. Title taken from Prodigal by OneRepublic

[The tumblr](http://schizzar.tumblr.com)

 

Cole turned off the screen of his phone and jammed it back into his pocket. Beside him, Zeke snored, much to the displeasure of everyone else on the crowded Greyhound bus but headphones existed for a reason, so Cole let him continue. His phone buzzed again in his pocket, undoubtedly another text from his mother, criticizing his life choices and demanding where he'd swanned off too. He rested his head against the cool window and watched the swampland roll by.

The sun was rising, barely visible above the tree line. Cole liked sunrises, liked the play of light piercing the darkness and all that poetic bullshit he kept up in his head. He had an image to keep up dammit. He got his feet and pushed passed Zeke's slumbering form to head up to the front of the bus. The bus driver was a dark skinned woman, laid back and pretty in that stereotypical way that said she wasn't trying too hard. Her black hair was a mass of dreadlocks gathered up in a ponytail high a top her head with a blue ribbon and her dark brown eyes seemed pretty alert for someone who'd been driving so long.

"Cole, right?" Her voice was a lazy, Louisiana drawl.

"Yeah. You never said your name," he said.

She glanced at him through the rearview mirror and then flicked her nametag. "Delisa. You ever learn how to read, Cole?"

"Sorry, sorry," he said. "How much longer we got you think?" He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the stair railing.

"Oh, two hours," she said. "Why you heading down to New Marais? Helluva place to go if you ain't got family there."

"How do you know I don't?" he asked.

"Oh, please. You and the snoring monster back there was clearly running from something," she said. "So why New Marais?"

"Don't know. Cheapest ticket."

Delisa laughed. "Well that's one way to decide. It ain't a pretty place though. You might get more than you bargained for."

"I can handle myself," Cole said.

"Didn't say you couldn't," Delisa said. "But New Marais can kill you."

Cole stayed silent for a moment, watching their wheels eat up the pavement. "Why do you say that?"

"The lawlessness. It gives you power. It can be addicting," she said. "But you always end up losing yourself in it. I take people down here who say they'll come back and they just get lost down there instead."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cole said. Her words made it feel like there was some cold weight settling low in his gut.

Zeke's snoring grew louder, cutting through whatever else Cole might've said.

"Why do you go shut your friend the hell up for me, eh, Cole?" Delisa asked.

Cole shook his head, chuckling. "Right."

 

-.-

 

"Man, this place is a shithole," Zeke said.

Cole couldn't agree more. Empire City had its shit parts but New Marais, despite the gorgeous architecture, just felt _bad_. There was trash, bums, and pools of water everywhere. Strung out druggies and zombie-eyed prostitutes lurked on the corners. Cole readjusted his bag.

"I dunno. It's charming."

Cole gave Zeke a toothy grin. He could tell the man was rolling his eyes behind his shades. He turned and headed off down the street towards the clock tower, the only real landmark that drew his attention. Zeke trailed after him. Neither of them had any real plans, and they hadn't even bothered to book a hotel or bring anything outside a few changes of clothes, so it was up to Cole to make the choices. Zeke had never been much of a leader. They'd figure it out though. They always did.

 

-.-

 

That night found them drunk in the streets of New Marais somewhere near Ascension Parish by the city graveyard. They'd been smart enough to stash their shit away in one of the empty and unlocked crypts, which he'd be a bit weirded out by the next morning. At some point they crashed a street party but Cole had a feeling none of the people there _really_ knew each other so it wasn't that big a deal. Once they were properly drunk on the free booze, they stumbled back towards the graveyard, buzzed and-

"Loosey goosey. Loooooosey goosey," Zeke all but cooed as he sunk to the ground at the base of a tree. "Man, I think that booze had something else in it."

"Probably did," Cole agreed as he sat down next to him. His vision was definitely more squiggly than it should've been. "Worth it."

"Oh, most definitely," Zeke said with a nod.

They sat in companionable silence as the moon steadily clawed its way up through the star swept sky. Cole slumped down and let his head fall against Zeke's shoulder. He was moments away from putting his thoughts into words when the sound of loud shouting and whooping caught both of their attention. Then, over the crypts and tombstones, they came. Boys and girls, teenagers, racing and clambering over the worn stone.

Cole pushed himself up, stumbling forward and watching as two lithe shapes scaled the tall pillar at the front of the graveyard. They reached the angel statue at the top in mere seconds and as Cole watched, one of them slipped and screamed out. The other twisted and caught their arm and for a heart-pounding moment, it felt as though time had stopped. Then, the boy was helped up to join the other on the arch of the angel's wing and they embraced, their shapes dark against the light of the moon. Cole let out a harsh breath.

"Zeke, did you see..." Cole trailed off when he turned to look at Zeke.

The other man had tilted down his shades and was staring at the angel. "You have gotta learn how to do that, brother."

"I know..." Cole sat back down and they watched together as the kids climbed off the angel and leapt across the tops of the crypts and out of sight.

He wanted to say something else but suddenly, he was too exhausted to string together any more thoughts. The last thing he remembered was staring at the moon.

 

-.-

 

His first attempt at climbing happened three days later. It was a bit of a humbling experience, because he was always in shape, definitely more than Zeke, but more than most of his other friends too, and yet he only made it halfway up the side of a building before he had to kick the window in and collapse on the half-rotting floor inside. He listened as Zeke struggled with the door downstairs but eventually the other man joined him, taking a seat on the floor and patting Cole's heaving chest.

"Good effort."

Cole glared at him, a little balefully, and then took another deep breath. "Yeah, whatever."

Zeke just grinned.

They were able to keep trying throughout the day. The cops didn't seem to give a shit what they were doing and there were more than a few abandoned buildings to take advantage of. By the end of it, Cole's arms were shaking and his whole body felt like it had been through the ringer. They ended up camping out on top of the roof of one of the buildings in what had become known as Flood Town, an area that was particularly devoid of any sort of law enforcement.

On their way there, they'd manage to bum some beers off a group of definitely not legal boys. Cole sat on the edge of the building's roof, sipping at his nice and slow as Zeke tried to make the space a little more homey. There was only so much a person could do with two sleeping bags and a pillow but Cole supposed he got points for trying.

When Zeke joined him on the roof's edge, neither didn't say a word. They stared out passed the worn levees and the moonlight that reflected off the high water. On some level, Cole supposed he was a little worried. Flood Town was technically safe to live in, but he figured their standards were a little fucked to hell if they thought Flood Town was anywhere close to habitable. Whatever. Dangerous or not, the view was nice.

"How long we gonna stay here?" Zeke asked.

Cole sipped his beer. "Don't know. 'Til I feel less like shit I guess."

"That's fine with me."

And the weird thing was, Zeke was _right_. Cole knew that. Zeke was amazing like that and honestly, he didn't understand it. Cole was nothing special, even if he was good at making choices. He had no real skills outside riding a bike fast enough to keep his job as a bike courier. He was relatively smart, sure, but not successful at much of anything since he'd dropped out of college, and certainly not good enough to warrant the kind of loyalty Zeke gave him.

Cole couldn't think of many people who'd be willing to swan off across the country because their best friend got in a fight with their parents.

"You're pretty amazing, you know that?" Cole said.

"Nah, I ain't much," Zeke said.

"Don't sell yourself short," Cole said, nudging Zeke's side. "I don't know what the hell I'd do without you."

"Ah, stop it," Zeke said, nudging him back just as hard. "It'll go to my head."  

"Whatever, I'm just saying. Thanks I guess."

Cole looked over at him and smiled. Zeke smiled back and they finished their beers.

 

-.-

 

They ended up lurking around New Marais for another six weeks. They lost track of time. They spent some nights getting shit-faced drunk and other nights in companionable silence on the roof that they staked out as their own in Flood Town. Zeke manages to get them a gym membership so they have some place to shower, and they spend their sober mornings collecting pop cans and recycling them for laundry money.

They make do. Cole was pretty sure without Zeke it'd be hopeless. For all Cole's college smarts, he was shit at surviving on the streets. He'd always depended on Zeke for that and Zeke had never let him down. Through it all, he kept climbing. He was stubborn like that and Zeke didn't let him doubt himself. It was incredibly frustrating at first because some attempts were even worse than the first but he kept working.

He bruised and bloodied his knuckles. He scraped up his elbows and knees as he learned how to properly roll his way out of a high jump. He pushed himself harder than he thought he could go until he was able to scale the five story buildings and leap across the rooftops at a breakneck speed. His muscles ached and he felt sore but he also felt like he was bleeding out all the negativity in his life and leaving behind something better.

Sometime towards the end of the sixth week, Zeke manned up and gave it a try. They did some harsh sprints and he did a couple drops onto lower rooftops but then he called it quits and went back to yelling encouragement at Cole when he felt like he couldn't get back up after a particularly harsh fall. At some point through it all, Cole started to feel better and Zeke bought their tickets back up to Empire City.    They spent their last night alone with a cooler of beers between them sitting on top of a flashy looking crypt in the graveyard. They talked about stupid shit; the drunken fights they got in, the drunken hook ups, the sober hook ups. They talked about what Cole was going to say when he finally got home to his parents. To Trish. If he and Trish were ever going to actually try a relationship.

"I forget sometimes," Cole said, unable to help but interrupt Zeke in the middle of some story about a big shot religious fanatic who'd been holding a rally about human decency earlier that day.

"Uh, forget what?" Zeke asked.

"About how easy it is to talk to you," Cole said. He glanced over at the tall pillar with its angel stretching up towards the sky. "I think I forget sometimes that I can say whatever the hell I want around you and you aren't gonna give a shit."

"You doubting me, brother?"

"Nah, nah, not anymore," Cole said. "Just. Thanks man. For coming down here with me for this long. I...shouldn't have expected that much from you but you came through."

"That's what I'm here for," Zeke said with a shrug.

"You know I'd do the same for you, right?" Cole asked, leaning forward on his knees and finally twisting his head to look at Zeke. "You just gotta ask."

Zeke's gaze was unreadable behind his glasses but he was smiling around his beer. "I know that. It's a two way street, brother. I won't let you forget it."

Cole snorted. "Good."

 

-.-

 

"My, my, was starting to think I'd lost you to the swamps," Delisa said as Cole climbs onto the bus behind Zeke.

"You almost did, and yet here I am," Cole said. He shifted out of the way of the other passengers and nodded at Zeke to let him know he'd catch up. "Why do you care so much anyhow?"

Delisa shrugged. "Someone's gotta. I see a lot of folks come down here. If I can help some of them realize there's a reason to go back if they think on it hard enough, I think I'm doing my part."

"You're just a bus driver," Cole said.

"Doesn't mean I can't make an impact," she said. "So you decided to stop running?"

Cole glanced down the walkway to where Zeke was staking out two seats for them at the back. "Nah. I think I've just found someone I know I can run with."

Delisa snorted. "Well I suppose I can't save everybody, now can I?"

He gave her a toothy grin. "You did just fine. Keep on caring, Delisa. I think maybe it is worth something."

She rolled her eyes and slapped his arm. "Get back there and keep your buddy from snoring the whole way back."

Cole gave a two-fingered salute and sauntered his way back to his seat next to Zeke. He wasn't ready to stop running; he knew that. But maybe it was starting to feel like he was running towards something instead.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you were wondering, Delisa was 100% based on a combination of Nix and Kuo yeahhhh~


End file.
